Chapter Twelve: Diamond In The Rock

   "Come on! Can't you two keep up? And I'm wearing heels!" I said sarcastically to Sage and Kayura. Kayura sighed and Sage shook his head in dismay.

   "Sorry to disappoint you, but we need to rest," said Sage, slightly aggravated. I sat down on a rock and sighed. It was no good to me if we were attacked and they were exhausted. Sage sat back against a tree and Kayura sat on a nearby rock. I put my hands on the ground behind me and looked toward the horizon. The mountain we were head toward was black against the red sky. The sun was setting behind it, making it a postcard worthy shot.

   "It's beautiful, isn't it?" said Kayura, trying to start a peaceful conversation. She recalled that all she's heard were insults, explanations, and explosions that Crystal and Sage have thrown back at each other.

  "It is," I said, agreeing with Kayura.

  "It's a shame the dynasty wants to destroy it," said Sage.

  "Who asked for your input?" I asked.

  "It's a free country," said Sage.

   "Not for long," I mumbled.

   "You know, they way you two are at each other's throats, you'd think you liked each other," said Kayura. I stared at Kayura, opened mouth.

   "Me, like him?" I asked.

   "Like her?" asked Sage. I turned around and looked backed at the sunset. I don't like him, can't like him, won't like him, I thought to myself. Ok, he's kinda cute, but that means nothing. He's intelligent, or shows slight signs of it. I guess I could try and be a little nicer to him. I turned around and looked at Sage.

   "Look, I'm sorry for being so rude to you. I guess I should be less prejudiced," I said, avoiding his eyes.

  "Apology accepted," said Sage. Kayura shushed us with a turn of her hand. She was listening to something. I strained to hear what she was hearing. Sage had turned his head, and was listening as well. I soon heard it. The clanking of metal, the sound of chains and swords and spears.

  "Get going. I'll hold them," said Kayura.

  "But," I started.

  "Look, we need your armor. Get going, I'll catch up later," said Kayura. I nodded and turned to go when a dynasty soldier appeared in front of me. I ducked under its spear and looked up to see Sage knocking it down with one blow.

  "I think we'll party later. Let's go," he said. I jumped up and followed him. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Kayura surrounded by thousands of soldiers.

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  Rose, Kento, and Kale approached the field where the throne of the gods once stood. Grass and wild flowers covered the field. The sun setting in the background cast dark black shadows that cut into the color of the field.

   "Ok, so where is my armor?" asked Rose.

  "Don't look at me. Kale?" asked Kento.

   "You were revived inside the throne of the gods, which was over there, last I recall," said Kale pointing over to a slightly shaded area. He continued,

  "My guess is, it is underground, somewhere over there." Rose looked at Kento and he eventually got the hint.

  "Duh. Armor of Hardrock, Tao Chi!" said Kento. His orange armor formed around him. He prepared to pull out his staff when a cold wind whisked across the field. Rose stepped back as Kale and Kento, both fully armored, stepped in front of her. Kento shifted his gaze from side to side, looking for any sign of an attack. After a few minutes of silence, Kento and Kale relaxed.

   "I guess it was a false alarm. Kento, do you mind?" asked Rose, nodding her head toward the ground. Kento was about to start spinning his staff, when a bolt of green energy slammed into Kale, sending him flying down the mountain side.

   "Sage?" asked Kento cautiously. Rose felt a chill run up her spine. She slowly turned around. Without moving her gaze, she tapped Kento on the shoulder. He turned around to see a man, holding a sword that glowed green, blue, and orange. His head was like a grey sheet of metal and his eyes glowed with evil energy.

   "I am Dala, demon general," he said, raising his sword.

   "Man, they just get uglier and uglier," said Kento to himself.

  "Prepare to die," said Dala. The sword began to glow blue. Water began to gather at the tip of it. It darted out at Kento and Rose. Kento knocked Rose out of the way of the blast. Unfortunately, Kento was hit with full force and was pushed over the edge of a cliff. Rose ran to the edge and looked over. She watched as Kento splashed into the small lake. She turned to see Dala charging up his sword, as it started to glow orange.

  "Nice evil general guy," said Rose, slowly stepping away from the cliff. Dala smiled and shot out a yellow blast of energy that ripped the ground apart. Rose froze as the energy came flying at her. Snap out of it girl and get out of the way!, she said to herself. Quickly, Rose jumped into the air and flipped over the energy and landed safely to the left of the blast.

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   "Man does that guy pack a punch," said Kento after he pulled himself out of the water. After he caught his breath, Kento dove into the water, searching for his staff. He flipped down his visor and looked around. On the bottom, tangled in coral, was his staff. Kento easily pulled it out and resurfaced. Swimming to shore, he flipped up his visor.

   "Ok, Kento, think. This guy knows Sage's and Sai's moves. But how?" asked Kento out loud. Then it dawned on him. Back when they were fighting Talpa, he zapped them of their powers. Sage's, Sai's, and his. Kento jumped up and ran to the cliff wall. He began to climb.

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   Rose dodged every attack Dala had thrown at her. She landed on a strip of ground not yet touched by Dala's attacks. She caught her breath. Dala paused, questioning what to do. Rose stood and looked around.

   "Hey Dala, why don't you strike while you're ahead?" she asked. Dala pointed his sword out at her and it glowed green. A bolt of green lightning shot out from his sword. Rose dropped to the ground. She stood once the attack stopped. Why doesn't he use Kento's attack? What is in this area that he doesn't want to me to find? asked Rose to herself. She gasped as she realized what he was hiding.

   "Black Lightning Slash!" said Kale from a distance. Dala looked to the left in surprise as black bolts of lighting knocked him back over the cliff that Kento had fallen off earlier.

   "Have a nice trip, creep," said Kento as Dala flew over his head. Rose got to her feet and pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear as Kale helped Kento over the cliff edge.

   "Kento, how's the weather down there? I might want to take a vacation sometime," said Kale jokingly.

   "Very funny," said Kento, annoyed.

   "Kento, break up this ground before he gets back," said Rose. Kento nodded and began to spin his staff.

  "Iron Rock Crusher!" said Kento, striking his staff out toward the piece of land Rose had indicated. It broke apart. As the pieces of rock broke into thousands of pieces, a silver ball with a orange glow shot into the air. It floated over til it was in front of Rose, and hovered in midair.

   "Hope," said Rose as she grabbed it, and closed her fist around the ball. In an instant, she was out of her clothes. Instead of the outfit she expected to appear, white and orange sub armor materialized on her. At the sound of pebbles bouncing off rock, Rose, Kento, and Kale turned to see Dala standing angrily, the last bit of water dripping onto the ground. Rose said quickly,

   "Armor of the Cavern, Tao Chi!" Pieces of rock that were lying around rose into the air and slammed into Rose. After the dust cleared, Rose stood, in orange armor that looked like Kento's, with a few adjustments for her figure.

  "Talpa and Scarbna will have my head! Now you must die!" said Dala. Blue energy formed at the tip of his sword and it hit Kento, Kale, and Rose. They went flying into a rock face on the other side of the field. Kento and Kale could hardly stand, and Rose was too shaken to move.

   "Now you have nothing left, not even hope," said Dala, laughing as he charged up for the final blow. At the mention of hope, Rose felt a warm glow on her forehead. She stood slowly and said,

  "You can't kill hope, Dala. It lives on, no mater what happens." Dala's sword, now fiercely glowing blue, was pointed at Rose.

  "We'll see," he said. Water shot out of the sword toward Rose. She grabbed for her whip. On the handle, she felt something that felt like a button. She pressed it and her whip began to spin. She held it out in front of her as the water slammed into it. The attack, on impact, disappeared. Rose's armor began to glow as she raised the spinning whip above her head. Dala stepped back, unsure of what was going to happen. The ground surrounding Rose began to break up and float up to the level of the whip. Each rock was broken down into pieces no bigger then basketballs. Each rock was surrounded with orange energy.

   "Rock Storm!" yelled Rose. She slammed her whip on the ground in the direction of Dala. The rocks shot out and headed for Dala. They formed a circle above his head and began to spin faster and faster. Without warning, they slammed into Dala, all at once, and exploded. Dala's screams of pain and agony rang through the air. As the dust cleared, the only thing left as proof of Dala's existence was his sword, which still pulsed blue, green, and orange.

  "What should we do with the sword?" asked Kale, approaching Rose.

  "I dunno, but that was awesome!" said Kento as he ran up to Kale and Rose.

   "Thanks. I think we should throw it into the lake, then Kale, you can freeze it over with enough ice that it will never melt," suggested Rose. Kento picked up the sword and threw it down into the lake. Kale closed his eyes and concentrated. Cold winds started to blow and snow began to fall. Rose watched as the lake was frozen solid and covered by a thick blanket of snow.

   "That should do," said Kale, powering down. Rose and Kento powered down and the trio began to walk back the way they came.

   "I'm starving. On the way back, can we stop for a cheeseburger or something?" asked Kento.

  "Sure, but let's make it an 18-inch pepperoni pizza with extra cheese!" said Rose in response.

  "How about an all you can eat buffet?" suggested Kale, rolling his eyes.

  "All right!" said Rose and Kento simultaneously. Without warning, Rose ran ahead of the group and shouted back,

   "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

  "Hey!" said Kento, running to catch up. Kale, unwilling to be a rotten egg, sprinted after them.